At The Edge Of Extinction

A look at several endangered Asian languages

NAUKAN YUPIK
CHUKCHI PENINSULA, FAR EAST SIBERIA, RUSSIA
70 speakers

Naukan Yupik is the native tongue of a mere 50 people living mostly in Lavrentiya, Siberia, but who originally hail from the village of Naukan, East Cape, Siberia, across the Bering Strait from Alaska’s Seward Peninsula. It is also spoken by a small handful existing on Chukchi Peninsula, the northeastern extremity of Asia, making a total of 70 people worldwide who use the language. Despite the group’s trifling size, the lexicon of this language was first documented long ago – all the way back in 1732.

Though spoken only in Siberia, Naukan Yupik is linguistically intermediate between two other languages: Central Siberian Yupik of St. Lawrence Island and Yupik Eskimo, a tongue exclusive to southwestern Alaska. On its evolutionary path lies a connection between these three languages that undoubtedly went in a northern arc through East Cape, across the Bering Strait and the Seward Peninsula – an area with quite a substantial sea barrier, making it hard for the indigenous people to navigate. Thus, Naukan Yupik is considered to be a third branch, midway between the two.

As a result, many local words have several meanings. For instance, pikna means anything from “that above” to “back from the sea” to “to the north” – rendering it impossible to translate into a single, concise English word. Until today, it is still undetermined whether Naukan Yupik is at heart a Siberian or Alaskan language.